Page 36 of Inglorious
Vortex turned around and faced me. “No drink driving.”
It was hard to control the urge to punch him. “I’ve been sober for two weeks now. If you wanna include the cold turkey week, that makes three. You and I have issues. Vortex, you’re an asshole who ran when the going got tough. Don’t expect to keep that VP patch under me. Nanci might be fooled by you, but I ain’t. As soon as shit gets hard again, you’ll be off like the yellow belly you are.”
“Dude, I wouldn’t wish to be VP under you. You’re destructive and a fool. The world was your oyster, and you became dark. You’d carved out the filth from the MC, but you didn’t stop. Who’d want to be a party to cold-blooded murder? Not fuckin’me or anyone else. The club split because of your actions and orders. Remember that,” Vortex spat back.
“If we’d left any of them alive, we’d have another Fury situation on our hands. Those assholes we killed had souls that were devil-spawned. Yeah, I’m a drunk, addicted to booze; I can admit my faults, and I’m in therapy for my grief. Each night I go to bed sober, I thank my lucky stars for making it without a drink. I’ve got problems. What about you, Vortex? Are you getting help?” I snapped at the smug asshole.
“Don’t need it,” he hissed.
“No? That’s why you’ve not talked to Rhea in over a decade,” I spat, and my barb hit home.
Vortex visibly flinched and then stormed off.
“Why bring that up?” Nanci demanded from behind me.
“What? Vortex came at me. Nanci, I ain’t taking Vortex’s bullshit. Don’t tell me I wasn’t right in what I said. Fucker hasn’t spoken to Rhea in well over a decade,” I retorted, turning to face her.
“Vortex feels guilty.”
“Everyone fuckin’ felt that. But none of us turned our backs on Rhea. My little sister needed Vortex, and where the fuck was he? Climbing on his hog and fleeing. Same as Hercules and the others. Now you’re here, welcoming them with open arms.”
“Hercules left for his own reasons, which aren’t mine to share. And if you believe Vortex isn’t haunted by what happened… think again, Inglorious. Vortex left Rhea alone, and he blames himself daily,” Nanci retorted with fire.
Nah, I wasn’t standing for that piss-poor excuse. Irately, I leaned into Nanci’s personal space and saw surprise flash into her eyes.
“Back off,” she warned.
“You forget, Nanci, I was the one who interrupted it. I found that cunt on top of my baby sister, raping her. That should tellyou something. Because I didn’t turn to drink then, and you know how devastated I was at what happened to Rhea. But the fact that I couldn’t handle those deaths meant I was beyond destroyed at losing my brothers. Sit on your pretty throne, Nanci, and judge me for being a weak assed man, but remember what I came through. Shit, I walked through fire to protect this club and the women associated with it.
“You’ve taken one life, woman.One. And that was simple. Slip a needle into Manda’s veins and walk away. Try counting the blood I’ve got on my hands. At night, I dream of a sea of red. Vortex was fuckin’ wrong to just cap that raping cunt. The lot of them needed killing because if we hadn’t, they’d have risen from the dead, same as Fury. Easy to judge when you ain’t the one who has to make the decisions,” I snarled.
Anger was coursing through my veins, and I wanted to shake and kiss her at the same time. I wasn’t finished, however. Nanci deserved some home truths.
“Want to know why I refused your advances? Why I didn’t take what you put on a fuckin’ platter for me?”
Nanci winced at my words.
But I continued, “You were a stupid kid playing at adult games. Sure, I could have fucked you stupid, not a hardship there. But you were Psych’s sister, and that meant something.
“Clearly didn’t to you, but it was a matter of honour to me. And if I had screwed you and claimed you like you wanted… what then? You wouldn’t have had the career you had. Bitch, you had an amazing life because of me, because I sent you away with a flea in your ear, and you made something of yourself.
“That kept me warm at night. Psych was so damn proud of you, too. Admit it, you were a fuckin’ child playing at being an adult. You didn’t care if my fucking you broke up a lifelong friendship between Psych and me. No, you decided you wanted to claim me and fuck the consequences. You’re damn lucky Iwas a man of honour, Nanci, because if it had been one of them, they’d have used, abused and cast you aside. Play at being president, but you’ve never faced the decisions I have. Neither has Vortex nor Hercules.”
My barbs struck home with the venom of a snake bite. Realisation crossed her face, followed by embarrassment.
“Inglorious, you should have got Rhea out!” Nanci hissed in return.
“Think I don’t know that? That’s something I’ll never forgive myself for,” I replied.
Nanci realised her barb had failed to strike and lashed out another way. “You are weak. You didn’t honour your brothers.”
“Oh, I honoured them, you even been to their graves yet? Don’t fuckin’ stand there bitching about not honouring them. Check the cemetery before running your mouth,” I hit back.
Nanci frowned. No, she hadn’t visited them.
“Finished having a tantrum and defending those who need to face reality? Where were you when Runner was eyeing up Vortex’s cousin, Sasha? That situation would have been Rhea all over again,” I disclosed, and Nanci stiffened. “Oh, what? Something you didn’t know? Yeah, that’s why the decision was made to hunt and kill them.”
“Rhea was two years younger than Sasha,” Nanci muttered, her face pale.
